March 3rd, 2009
Linux.com goes to Linux Foundation
After a decade with VA Linux Systems OSDN Sourceforge.net, Linux.com has come full circle. The news broke today that Linux.com is being transferred to the Linux Foundation, which says it will make Linux.com a “community resource… for the community, by the community.”
If that sounds familiar, it’s because VA Linux Systems promised to do pretty much the same thing back in 1999 when it launched the site.
Linux.com has gone through a lot of changes (editorial and design-wise) since it was sold to VA in 1999, but never quite lived up to its potential. The volunteer-run iteration of Linux.com eventually gave way to paid staff (disclaimer: I worked for Linux.com for two years between 2005 and 2007), but always fell short of being the “community portal” VA promised when it bought the site in 1999.
That doesn’t mean it can’t be done, though, and it certainly needs to be done. The domain could be a useful tool for promoting Linux, if done right. Even without any promotion, Linux.com drew thousands of page views per day in 1999 — and is likely the first destination for users who’ve just heard of Linux.
And it needs to be done by a non-partisan organization, with a mission to promote Linux. The Linux Foundation seems like the logical choice here. It has a fair amount of experience in bringing the community together on projects, and focusing on the site as a focal point for the community is likely to produce better results than focusing on Linux.com as an advertising property first and foremost.
Have an idea what should be on the site? The LF folks are all ears. They’ve set up an IdeaForge page to collect thoughts on what Linux.com should be. What’s your suggestion?
Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier is a longtime FOSS advocate, and currently works for Novell as the community manager for openSUSE. Prior to joining Novell, Brockmeier worked as a technology journalist covering the open source beat for a number of publications, including Linux Magazine, Linux Weekly News, Linux.com, UnixReview.com, IBM developerWorks, and many others. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations. Follow Zonker on Twitter.
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